Mark Your Calendars:
· June 16, 2025: Grade 3 Field Trip to the Calgary Zoo
· June 20, 2025: Wonder Hour 9:40-10:40
· June 20, 2025: Acknowledging Indigenous Peoples’ Day (June 21) with a schoolwide online read aloud
· June 24, 2025: Whole School Year End Assembly 9:45 –10:30
· June 25, 2025: Grade 4 Farewell 11:00-12:00
· June 25, 2025: School Council Year-End Family Picnic and Carnival (notices went home with students on June 5th) 5:30 –8:00pm
· June 26, 2025: Last Day of School – early dismissal at 12:39pm
· June 27, 2025: Appeals Day and Non-Instructional Day
Dear Royal Oak School Families,
Grade 4 Year End Farewell: If you are the parent of a grade 4 student, please mark your calendars as we will be holding the Grade 4 Farewell Assembly on Wednesday, June 25th in the morning from 11:00 – 12:00 in our gymnasium. We will be able to welcome only two family members per grade 4 student to attend this event. More information is coming from your child’s grade 4 classroom teacher. We are grateful that our School Council will be sponsoring a pizza lunch for our grade 4 students that day. Permission notices were sent home last week.
Library Book Returns: With the end of the school year quickly approaching, we need to make sure that our library books are returned and accounted for. Please take some time to look around the house and return any overdue books that belong to the school. All books must be returned to the Learning Commons by Wednesday, June 18, 2025.
Staffing Updates: This week, we want to take the time to identify several staff members who will not be returning to Royal Oak School for the 2025-26 school year, as they are moving on to new opportunities.
We have been a better school because of these people:
· Mrs. Sarah Power will be leaving our school, after 13 years at Royal Oak School, to take on a new role as an English as an Additional Language (EAL) strategist with the CBE. While we will deeply miss her presence, expertise, and longstanding commitment to our school community, we are excited for this next chapter and know that many more students and educators will benefit from her leadership and passion. Congratulations and best wishes in this exciting new role!
· Mrs. Heather Mitschke will be leaving Royal Oak School after 9 impactful years to join the system as an English as an Additional Language strategist as well. Throughout her time at our school, Mrs. Mitschke has been a dedicated and thoughtful educator, deeply committed to supporting student learning and collaboration. We are excited for her as she steps into this new system role, where her skills and passion will positively impact even more learners across the CBE. She will be greatly missed!
· Mrs. Christine Laser will be taking a general leave for the upcoming school year to spend time with her family and loved ones. We are grateful for the impact she has made on the hearts and minds of our grade 1 students. We wish her all the best during this time away from the classroom.
· Miss Clare Spalding has been supporting our students this year as a part-time Kindergarten teacher and part-time intervention teacher. Her temporary contract will conclude at the end of June. We are thankful for the care, dedication, and flexibility she has brought to both roles and wish her all the best in her future teaching opportunities.
· Miss Brooklyn Hatch has been on a temporary contract with us this year. We are so thankful for her dedication and hard work with our grade 3 students earlier this year and for supporting our grade 4 students throughout the year. Sadly, her contract ends at the end of June. We do hope that new opportunities in the CBE become available to her.
· Miss Angelina Ryou joined our school community in February, taking on a temporary contract as one of our grade 3 teachers. Sadly, too, her contract ends at the end of June. We also hope that new opportunities in the CBE become available to her as well.
Updated School Bell Times: Each year school administration is tasked with completing a School Declaration to ensure that we are providing the mandated number of days and minutes of instruction for our students. We must work within the parameters of the CBE approved calendar and our transportation schedule. Our bell times have been impacted by the system’s need to align with new Alberta Education mandated walk zone parameters. To meet these requirements, we have been provided with bell times for the 2025-26 school year. As a staff, we have been thoughtful to plan for regular movement breaks for our students with recess, PE, and lunch break balanced throughout their days.
Entry Bell 8:43
School Start Time 8:46
Recess Monday – Thursday: Grades 1 & 3 10:20 –10:32, Grades 2 & 4 1:40-1:52 and Fridays: Grades 1-4 10:35 – 10:53
Lunch Monday – Thursday: Grades 2 & 4 11:55 – 12:31; Grades 1& 3 12:35 – 1:11
Dismissal Monday – Thursday 3:13, Friday 12:39
Kindergarten Monday – Thursday AM 8:46– 11:37, PM 12:22 –3:13 & Alternating Fridays
Transportation Registration is Now Open: Families are now able to register for school bus service for the 2025-2026 school year. Registration is available using your MyCBE account. (If you do not already have an account, learn how to create one.) Families must register by June 22, 2025 for students to be added to routes for the start of the next school year. We continue to accept registrations after the deadline; however, students are added to the closest existing bus stop with available space. Processing times for registrations submitted after the June 8 deadline will be delayed. Confirmed routes are posted in late August. For those who register after the June 22 deadline, it may take until mid-October before your child is able to ride the bus. Transportation can be cancelled with no financial impact by submitting the cancellation form by Sept. 30, 2025.
Wishing you a great week ahead!
Sincerely,
Michelle Ryskamp,
Principal, Royal Oak School
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SCHOOL COUNCIL & FUNDRAISING SOCIETY NEWS – EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
· Our Volunteer of the Month for May is…Mike C! Mike is a Kinder parent who also has a
student up the hill at Pratt. He appreciates how responsive ROS is and how well
communications are handled. Thank you for being part of our volunteer community
Mike!
· Year End Carnival – June 25 (5:30-8:00pm): Join the School Council and Fundraising Society as we celebrate the end of the school year with a Carnival and Picnic in the Park. Bring your blanket and a picnic or purchase food from the YYC Food Trucks on site. This event is open to all families and free to attend.
· We continue to be in search of parent volunteers to fill the following roles starting in the 2025/2026 school year. Be part of building the ROS community! Email for more information.
o Fundraising Society: Chairperson – ROSFundraisingSociety@gmail.com
o School Council: Volunteer Coordinator – ROSVolunteers@gmail.com
Mark Your Calendars!
1) June 25: Year End Carnival! 7 more volunteers (with CBE registered police clearance) are needed to supervise games (e.g., KID SAFE – dartboard, tic tac toe, ring toss, football throw, etc.) from 5.30-6.45pm or 6.45-8.00pm. Help us kick off the summer with some FREE family fun! Sign up here: ROS Volunteers: Year End Carnival